You’re half Puerto Rican. Did you grow up cooking traditional food?Aubrey Plaza: It’d be a lie to say I “grew up cooking.” But I was around a lot of food. My grandmother has been trying to teach me the basics–sofrito and rice and beans.

So what’s the secret to tasty rice and beans?AP: Old-school, Goya Sazon-style seasoning. The kind you get in the back part of a shadyMexican grocery store.

Are you confident in the kitchen?AP: I turn into a crazy person. I have a glass of wine to get into a good state of mind. It ends up being an explosion. By the end, I’m covered in flour and ketchup.

Listening to music sometimes helps.AP: Yeah, I put on some Tibetan chanting, just to kind of center myself.

What about at work–what’s on your dream craft-services table?AP: A boatload of apples and almond butter and yogurt. Or else, like, ten pumpkin heads full of Halloween candy. Rashida [Jones, her co-star on Parks and Rec] and I are always slapping candy out of each other’s hands.

What kind of candy?AP: Chocolate bars. Nerds…

Nerds? Really? Are you five years old?AP: Yeah. We’re five-year-olds. We eat Nerds all day long. And Cap’n Crunch and CinnamonToast Crunch and Cocoa Puffs. Terrible.

You grew up in Delaware and moved to New York for college. What food did you discover in NYC?AP: Katz’s Deli was a big thing for me. I grew up in a suburban Irish Catholic community. There wasn’t a lot of pastrami. Or latkes. Or matzo balls. I mostly ate SpaghettiOs with chopped-up hot dogs in it.

And now you’re a big-shot actress. You’re in a new movie that co-stars Bill Murray, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. Did you guys share any meals together?AP: Yes, one dinner. It was one of the most special meals I’ve ever had.

What’d you eat?AP: It was Greek–some kind of fried cheese thing. I don’t really do dairy, and he said, “You’re gonna eat this. And you’re gonna eat it right now.” I was like, “Anything you say.” Because anything Bill Murray says, I will do. He’s the king.

Right. How did it taste?AP: It was amazing. I threw up later. But it was totally worth it.